In my continued efforts to gain favor with our new allies in the north, Malory and I took on Commander Hixx’s dangerous request. The asura were in need of the rich energy veins that are located in a nearby section of the Depths of Tyria. In order to access this energy, Commander Hixx has to drive away the vicious spiders that inhabit those depths.

Unlike normal (tiny) spiders, these monstrous ones can construct spider webs that are very fire resistant. But our asura allies have taken this into consideration and designed a magical torch for us that manages to burn through it.

Aside from the spider problem, we occasionally found small clusters of mushrooms that release a poisonous gas, and mechanical traps that shoot poison darts. The mushrooms can obviously be avoided by walking around them, but the poison darts were a constant hazard.

This spider’s lair also contains a feast hall. I’ve seen a few of these throughout the Depths of Tyria. Here, a powerful fire elemental known as Lok the Mischievous stood by the fireplace and rolled a few balls of fire our way once we entered the room. These giant fiery orbs of death make a loud noise as they travel down the hall, so unless you’re deaf it is easy to avoid them.

Commander Hixx had us light up spider eggs to draw out the spider matriarchs. Normally I wouldn’t steep to using such a barbaric method to achieve our goals, but the asura must access the energy veins to combat the Destroyers. If another (more humane) option were available I’d take it in a heart beat.

Malory and I had a quick look around the spider egg room before heading off to the next level of the depths. This flame djinn, and several others that wandered by, turned out to be completely harmless. But that didn’t stop Commander Hixx from flying into combat with it. I suppose he is still upset over the loss of the other asura that have come down here to stop Arachni, only to be killed by her minions. Such rage must have clouded his judgment when he saw the djinn.

We spotted familiar scenery as we arrived on the next and final level of the spider’s lair. These stone pillars can be found pretty much all throughout the Depths of Tyria.

Soon after admiring the stone pillars, we started to encounter a lot of devices that randomly spit fire darts at us. Using the Light of Deldrimor revealed a hidden room and the Flame Guardian attuned to those fire darts. Needless to say, killing the creature solved our burning problem.

Moving on with our mission, we encountered an increasing amount of spiders. This led us to believe we were close to finding Arachni. But the spider queen is by no means stupid. She left the bulk of her spider army waiting for us in the final chamber of her haunt. At first it seemed that they would overwhelm us, but we were able to kill them all quickly by calling out the Lifeweaver spiders that protected the others.

Looking directly up at the ceiling, we spotted several prey the spiders had captured in their webbing. Presumably these are Commander Hixx’s friends. The sight of them threw him into a frenzy.

Again, he ordered us to light up all the spider eggs to bring out the remaining matriarch and Arachni herself. I’m well aware of how big these monstrous spiders can get, but I didn’t quite expect the spider queen to be so big! It’s a shame we couldn’t redirect Arachni and her spiders to a different part of the depths. I felt bad about having to kill such a magnificent and probably ancient creature. They were just trying to protect their offspring and territory. But these spiders couldn’t be reasoned with.

After the battle, Malory and I gathered our prized spoils and left Arachni’s Haunt so the asura could begin tapping the energy veins. Today didn’t feel like a victory against the Destroyers, but as an adventurer, you’re bound to get your hands dirty.